Flexible and Transparent Electrode of Hybrid Ti3C2TX MXene-Silver Nanowires for High-Performance Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diodes

The development of electrodes with high conductivity, optical transparency, and reliable mechanical flexibility and stability is important for numerous solution-processed photoelectronic applica-tions. Although transparent Ti3C2TX MXene electrodes with high conductivity are promising, their suitability for displays remains limited because of the high sheet resistance, which is caused by undesirable flake junctions and surface roughness. Herein, a flexible and transparent electrode has been fabricated that is suitable for a full-solution-processed quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED). An MXene-silver nanowire (AgNW) hybrid electrode (MXAg) consists of a highly conductive AgNW network mixed with solution-processed MXene flakes. Efficient welding of wire-to-wire junctions with MXene flakes yields an electrode with a low sheet resistance and a high transparency of approximately 13.9 Omega sq(-1) and 83.8%, respectively. By employing a thin polymer buffer layer of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), followed by mild thermal treatment, a hybrid PMMA-based MXene-AgNW (MXAg@PMMA) electrode in which the work function of an MXAg hybrid FTE physically embedded in PMMA (MXAg@PMMA) can be tuned by controlling the amount of MXene in the hybrid film facilitates the development of a high-performance solution-processed QLED that exhibits maximum external quantum and current efficiencies of approximately 9.88% and 25.8 cd/A, respectively, with excellent bending stability. This work function-tunable flexible transparent electrode based on solution-processed nanoconductors provides a way to develop emerging high-performance, wearable, cost-effective, and soft electroluminescent devices.

Automated summary

The development of electrodes with high conductivity, optical transparency, and reliable mechanical flexibility and stability is important for numerous solution-processed photoelectronic applications. In this study, a flexible and transparent electrode suitable for a full-solution-processed quantum dot light-emitting diode (QLED) was fabricated by mixing MXene flakes with a highly conductive AgNW network. The resulting MXAg electrode exhibited low sheet resistance and high transparency. By adding a polymer buffer layer and controlling the amount of MXene in the hybrid film, the work function of the MXAg electrode could be tuned, enabling the development of a high-performance QLED with excellent bending stability and controllability.